Gorgeous Fall

Astoria, Oregon ~ October 28, 2013

The trees were gorgeous on Exchange Street last week. Sights like this, and photos in particular are still rare for me, as all my energy is going into business. I'm not taking walks yet, but I stopped the car on one of my rare trips out because I had to catch the colors. I've begun working with a doctor in Pennsylvania who understands mitochondrial dysfunction and is working with me through diet and supplements. I am improving some, but the last few weeks were stressful, and my energy dropped again. I'm taking it easier this week. 

My Web Page: Tapirback.com

Red on Red

Astoria, Oregon ~ November 1, 2011

Every year I smile because someone had the foresight to plant bushes along the edge of the Safeway parking lot that turn screaming red in the fall. This year I'm also glad that they were near the car. 

I haven't said much about this, and I won't make it long now, but I've had a hell of a time wanting to take photos this past year and a half. It simply hurts too much to stand for any length of time or walk to where the good angle is. I can't even think of taking a walk beyond a stone's throw from the car until I get better. I had a relapse of fibromyalgia a year ago last Memorial Day weekend. I've been dealing with it off and on for 30 years, and some years have been very good. This time severe foot problems came along with it. This is new as far as noticing that it was a real problem. In hindsight, there have been nagging symptoms that have been seriously misdiagnosed more than once over the past ten years, as much as I talked with medical people about what I was noticing. I'm fed up with doctors. They're fine if you break something or need surgery, but I prefer to work at this from the point of "what can I do to help myself?" I'm working with my Egoscue guy again (specific exercises for specific causes of musculo-skeletal problems), and again I have hope. I had given up the "e-cises" for much of the summer for various reasons, although after much thought and observation, I still believe this is how I'm going to get better. It took some time for my muscles to recover after I quit the anti-inflammatory meds almost two years ago. I'd been on them for almost 10 years, and now I'm not even taking asprin. Meanwhile, although my muscles still get sore very easily, they are better. I feel and hope I can get back into the routine of the exercises that are going to get me literally "back on my feet." I've started again, taking it slowly.

A dog with sore feet likes to curl up and sleep. I've been curling up with my projects, which keep my attention and keep me creative and mostly positive. I've been wanting to work on them anyway. For followers of this blog, this is why you're seeing more pictures of my office than of the wonders in the outside world. I feel ready to begin to bridge that gap, so here's a photo of Mother Nature, even though she's been domesticated by the landscape artists who complemented Astoria's Safeway.

On another note, I'm working on blog format today and clicking on my own sidebar (and moving some slow-loading links into the tabs above). I just noticed that one of my all-time favorite blogs is NOW DEAD. The remains are still there. If you love fun and crazy art, check it out. I was a collage artist in an earlier incarnation, and I LOVE the humor in this blog! It was best before the decoupage folks joined in, but I haven't gone through the posts in awhile to see how it's evolved. Here it is: Scrapeteria.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Dec 26, Bend: Splashes of color in a black and white world

We drove into Bend last night in the dark, and weren't able to see the fairy kingdom made by frozen fog on trees and bushes until this morning. I took all of the photos in this post in color, and I didn't change the color in Photoshop. A few of the photos came out really well. Others are included to help me remember the day.

There was only a dusting of frost on the ground - no snow - but every branch and needle were covered in lacy white, making the green of the trees look more black than green by contrast. After this week, I won't be back to Bend for a number of months, so I've included a lot of photos in today's post. It was magical being out in these conditions.

First stop, Starbucks, where the papers were full of the news of the fizzled "device on Flight 253. This is when I realized what an entirely different feel the day would have had if the thing had gone off - not only for family and friends of the passengers, but for everyone. Of course, the news continued to be filled with bits about airport security failures, failures to make use of information in databases, etc. The consequences will not be over at the end of the day, even though (thankfully), the passengers touched down safely.

We stopped in a parking lot, because we wanted to take photos of various plants we'd seen along the roadside. There were a few colorful leaves on this dark green bush.

This one came out really well. It may help to enlarge it.

I took this because I liked the shape of the small trees. When I saw it, I liked the color in the otherwise-monochromatic scheme.

Heh. Iced mocha today? Actually, I've been getting cold coffee drinks lately, but not at McDonald's.

Aesthetically, I could have left this one out, but I like the variety of trees covered in frost.

Approaching the traffic circle.

This is one of the things I wanted to photograph. I like the deer in the wreath and the feathery white background. Bend has sculptures of one sort or another in every traffic circle in town, or nearly all of them. Some are realistic and some are not. I think the city has done a nice job trying to beautify the sterile new streets.

The exposure isn't quite right here, but I liked the sun glow on the trees that were painted on the door to Pine Mountain Sports. It looked very nice as we entered.

We stopped at Strictly Organic for some breakfast burritos, and this was the view out the window in front of the counter where you can sit down to eat. I've had their coffee before, and I think it's the worst I've ever had anywhere. In fact, after much consideration, I threw it out. But their burritos were fantastic.

The bell-shaped lights are reflections from inside Strictly Organic.

The "numbers" they give you that correspond with your order aren't numbers at all, but countries. Funny that we got Tanzania, because Lee will be there on his upcoming trip, so he was able to show me his route and where he'd be staying. I'm certainly looking forward to the photos.

More reflections, more frost. I like the shape of the arch in the bricks, too.

I took this out the other window. I like a number of the elments here, but the first thing that caught my eye was the unusual coloring of the trim.

Again from the cafe window: red, red, nice shapes of the bike rack, and a square within a square.

In the corner of the room behind us as we were eating, was this nice tree painted on the wall.

The counter where we ate was cool. I think it must be palm wood in laminated rectangles. The next photo shows what nature can do in Creative Design class.

Isn't that wonderful? The smaller dots look like a jaguar's coat.

I'm not sure why I included this one. It was just part of the moment.

Strictly Organic supplies water for dogs. But today a dog would need an ice pick.

Frosty bike. Cool bike rack design.

I've taken pictures of these grates before and liked the color better without the frost, but this time I noticed the type: It says, "Bend, Oregon - Est. 1905."

Oak leaves. I love the pale brown.

This is one of my favorite pix of the day. I took it through the windshield of the car, looking at the lacy white-on-white trees on the right, but it turned into a nice composition, and and love the colored sign, too. We were almost home.

Aug 9, Bend, Part 1: Sunday Morning

We decided to go out for coffee, but wait . . . there's something red and shiny in the driveway.

Ashley? Adam? ???

So I got out while they were moving their car. Time to smell the flowers, or at least look at them. They're beautiful right now, and they are spreading. Lee says he only planted one. They now surround the base of the spruce tree, and they've begun their descent down the terracing.

The closer you get, the better they look. I remember when they were planted.

They're called "gaillardia," but I don't know what species they are.

Nice.

A couple more.

Colorado blue spruce by the garage door. It was moved here when Paul extended the bedroom.

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Aug 9, Bend, Part 2: Starbuck's

En route to Starbuck's. Why did they build something this ugly, when they could have designed a more pleasing exterior? Its selling point is that it's an energy-efficient design. We went inside one of the models a few months ago, and it felt like being inside something that should have been sitting on a shipping pallet. I don't mind industrial at all, and in fact, I've enjoyed living in industrial neighborhoods, but I failed to find the charm in this home. And they don't seem to be selling, but maybe that's the market. Looking at one is sort of entertaining. I can only imagine what it will look like when this corner is filled with these horrible brown boxes.

The entrance to Starbuck's. Just clicking the shutter for the memory book. It was nice outside.

Just out front of Starbuck's in the landscaping. A tripod is needed here, so it's not sharp, but I like the purple flower with this background. It was nice to look at, and it's nice to remember.

More purple blowing in the weeds and the breeze outside Starbuck's. Natural landscaping. I like it.

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Aug 9, Bend, Part 4: Flowers on Monterey Pines

Back home to Monterey Pines Drive after breakfast, I was struck by how beautiful the clouds were in the perfectly blue sky. It's been awhile since I've been to Bend, and everything looks different from the coast, and different from the last time I was here. I'd become trigger-happy with the Canon.

Here are some more gaillardia alongside the street across from the house. In the last post, I said, "Long may they bloom," but it appears that their season may be coming to an end. At least some of these have lost their petals.

The lavender in the front yard looks soft and beautiful.

And this lavender-colored pansy caught my attention near the front door.

I don't know what this orange flower is, but it's beautiful and it's nearly in focus. I like it.

This is also in the front yard at the edge of the grass. I think it's Queen Anne's lace going to seed, but I'm not sure. I like the patterns against the deep shade.

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March 31, Bend: Trees and a ghost sock and flags in the sun

Lee's been swimming or working out just about every day unless he's on the mountain skiing. I got a temporary membership at the gym (you can just see it on the left). But today I thought I'd rather walk outside than tread on the treadmill inside. It was cold and windy and not very inviting, but I've been indoors so much on the computer that I wanted to get out and roam a bit. There's a lovely park (Juniper Park) surrounding the gym, and it seemed like a good start. I'm still not used to such dry weather. I like the climate in Astoria. Still, the trees are a nice place to start. The park is small and I knew I'd be on the street before long.

Yeah. A nice path through the woods.

I'd stopped to take a photo of a taco stand, but I didn't like it. This pic of the signs was only for geolocation reference, but I liked it better than the shot I took of the taco place. I like the tree.

I call this one the "ghost sock." It's actually a child's white sock with some dirt on it, trampled by walkers. Pretty cool looking.

Bear sculpture. There are a lot of traffic circles in Bend, and the city has done a good job of putting reasonably interesting sculptures and nice landscaping in them. This one with the bronze-looking bear is near the gym. I've gone through the forest and up the block back toward the entrance. I took pictures of the bear from every corner outside the traffic circle, but this was his best angle, or at least the picture that came out best. Unfortunately it has wires behind it. Too bad. I know they can be photoshopped out easily, but at this point I'm still recording places as much as anything, so the wires stay.

I like the upturned boughs here. I think it's a spruce tree, but I don't know if it's a Colorado blue or some other kind. I'm not sure what's up with the branches.

Some brave souls came out to play tennis in their shorts. That's Pilot Butte in the background. If Lee had been planning to stay at the gym longer, I would have climbed it today. I was in the right frame of mind.

Here's the walk leading back up to the gym. It's a horrible day for this type of photo. The sky's all gray and the lighting is bad. The white tent covers one of the two swimming pools.

We went back to the house for a bit, then out for a drink and appetizers for dinner. Now the sky had changed to leaden dark, but the part of the sky that was clear let through the most gorgeous evening light. I'd wanted to stop on the bridge and take a photo over the river and the Old Mill District, but Lee was deep in a phone conversation and I didn't interrupt. We should have gone back, but we were both hungry and cold, and we didn't. Light changes so fast, too. By the time we'd turned around, you never know. It's one of those images that you see just as you're passing - or you think about it after you've gone too far. Most are forgotten almost instantly as the next images come along, but I remember this one. I'll remember the spot and the lighting, and try to go back on a similar day. But it took us only a few minutes to get to our destination and stop, and the same lighting and the dark sky were still available when we got out at the old mill. The silver stacks and the flying flag were dramatic against the evening storm.

Anthony's fish restaurant and bar. And dinner.

This sculpture is just outside of Anthony's. I don't love it, but I love the light and the colors. I think it's nice to have civic sculpture, though, I just have a thing about old wagon wheels. I like them in situ, but not as intentional decoration. It's probably because I saw too many at some time in my life.

The sunlight on the bridge's flags was stunning. Click to enlarge the picture and see what I mean. This view is another benefit of eating at Anthony's. The margarita was good and the appetizers were excellent. It was a nice night out, for sure.

And then on the way home. . . . Bend has interesting and dramatic cloud shapes of a type we don't get on the coast. Really nice.